First SEISS grant eligibility

vtoea

Hi
Was I eligible for the first SEISS grant? I was working as self employed since January 2019 till 14 of March 2020 then I stopped due to no work and also being pregnant planing to trade again by march 2021.
Submited my tax return 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 with stopped self employement on 14 of march.
Now they said they might want the money back I guess if no trade in this tax year? I only claimed the first one cause thats when I felt that corona affected me.

MattMattMattUK

There was no "furlough grant", there was furlough as part of the CJRS which covered PAYE employees, or there was SEISS, which was for the self-employed. It is unlikely you would have been eligible as with only a few months in the 18/19 tax year you would have probably not met the 50% self-employed earnings threshold in 18/19 and the 19/20 tax year was not counted.

vtoea

MattMattMattUK said:

There was no "furlough grant", there was furlough as part of the CJRS which covered PAYE employees, or there was SEISS, which was for the self-employed. It is unlikely you would have been eligible as with only a few months in the 18/19 tax year you would have probably not met the 50% self-employed earnings threshold in 18/19 and the 19/20 tax year was not counted.

Thanks for you answer I updated my first post with more info.

MattMattMattUK

vtoea said:

Submited my tax return 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 with stopped self employement on 14 of march.
Now they said they might want the money back I guess if no trade in this tax year? I only claimed the first one cause thats when I felt that corona affected me.

If you told HMRC on 14th March that you had stopped trading as self-employed then you would not have been eligible for the grant, as a condition was that you intended to continue trading. 

vtoea

MattMattMattUK said:

vtoea said:

Submited my tax return 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 with stopped self employement on 14 of march.
Now they said they might want the money back I guess if no trade in this tax year? I only claimed the first one cause thats when I felt that corona affected me.

If you told HMRC on 14th March that you had stopped trading as self-employed then you would not have been eligible for the grant, as a condition was that you intended to continue trading. 

And if intend to continued trading this tax year that would make me eligible ? Correct?

Thanks

MattMattMattUK

vtoea said:

And if intend to continued trading this tax year that would make me eligible ? Correct?

That depends, if you told HMRC (as you state above that you did) that you had stopped trading, then no, you would not be eligible.

vtoea

MattMattMattUK said:

vtoea said:

And if intend to continued trading this tax year that would make me eligible ? Correct?

That depends, if you told HMRC (as you state above that you did) that you had stopped trading, then no, you would not be eligible.

People can stop trading and start trading without notifying HMRC am I correct? If my next tax return will have me traiding from Janurary 2021 till April 2021 that would make me eligible right?

MattMattMattUK

vtoea said:

People can stop trading and start trading without notifying HMRC am I correct? 

No, not really.

You must tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) if you’ve stopped trading as a sole trader or you’re ending or leaving a business partnership.

You’ll also need to send a final tax return.

https://www.gov.uk/stop-being-self-employed

There are also similar rules for when you start trading, I can not find them at the moment but I believe that you need to notify HMRC within three months, or the end of the tax year, whichever comes first.

vtoea said:
If my next tax return will have me traiding from Janurary 2021 till April 2021 that would make me eligible right?

No, because you already told HMRC that you had stopped trading on 14th March.

vtoea

MattMattMattUK said:

vtoea said:

People can stop trading and start trading without notifying HMRC am I correct? 

No, not really.

You must tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) if you’ve stopped trading as a sole trader or you’re ending or leaving a business partnership.

You’ll also need to send a final tax return.

https://www.gov.uk/stop-being-self-employed

There are also similar rules for when you start trading, I can not find them at the moment but I believe that you need to notify HMRC within three months, or the end of the tax year, whichever comes first.

vtoea said:
If my next tax return will have me traiding from Janurary 2021 till April 2021 that would make me eligible right?

No, because you already told HMRC that you had stopped trading on 14th March.

Checking if you’re eligible The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) helps self-employed individuals and members of partnerships who have been adversely affected by coronavirus. To be eligible for SEISS all these conditions must apply: You traded in the tax year 2018 to 2019 and submitted your Self-Assessment tax return on or before 23 April 2020 for that year. You traded in the tax year 2019 to 2020. You intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021. On your tax return for either 2018 to 2019 or 2019 to 2020 you indicated that you had stopped trading. This means you were not eligible to receive a grant and will need to repay the money you received. HMRC is not requesting any payment now, but you do need to complete the online form as soon as possible. If you were not eligible, we will contact you with information about payment options. Please refer to the FAQs below if you need more guidance on what this means. What you need to do now Please review your SEISS grant application by 20 November 2020. If you do not complete either action 1 or 2 outlined below by this date, we may start a formal compliance check. This may mean you have to pay a penalty and statutory interest. Action 1 If you did not trade in both tax years 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020 and did not intend to continue your trade in 2020 to 2021: You do not meet the requirements to claim a SEISS grant. You must: Go to GOV.​UK and search ‘Stopped trading SEISS’. Complete the online form. You do not pay at this point. We will contact you to tell you how to pay what you owe. Action 2 If you did trade in tax years 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020 and intended to trade in 2020 to 2021. If you have not stopped trading and believe your SEISS grant was correct. You must: Make sure you are registered for Self-Assessment (SA). Make a return by the SA filing date, include your SEISS grant as income. Go to GOV.​UK and search ‘Stopped trading SEISS’. Complete the online form. There is no need to provide evidence, but we may contact you at a later point to check the information. This was in the email I got from HMCR

MattMattMattUK

Those are the criteria, the key part is: You intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021.

You said in a previous post that you told HMRC that you ceased trading on 14th March, therefore you are in breach of this requirement and so ineligible. 
On your tax return for either 2018 to 2019 or 2019 to 2020 you indicated that you had stopped trading. This means you were not eligible to receive a grant and will need to repay the money you received.
As you told HMRC you had stopped trading, you were not eligible when you claimed, therefore you are required to repay the SEISS grant to HMRC. 

vtoea

MattMattMattUK said:

Those are the criteria, the key part is: You intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021.

You said in a previous post that you told HMRC that you ceased trading on 14th March, therefore you are in breach of this requirement and so ineligible. 
On your tax return for either 2018 to 2019 or 2019 to 2020 you indicated that you had stopped trading. This means you were not eligible to receive a grant and will need to repay the money you received.
As you told HMRC you had stopped trading, you were not eligible when you claimed, therefore you are required to repay the SEISS grant to HMRC. 

Thanks for your help they told me to submit a form where it asked me if I intend to continue trading and now is being reviwed so I hope I don't have to because I plan to continue trading.